Out of Time

Day 2

Tom sat in his bed, curtains drawn closed. The boys in this dorm were horrendous. They had no manners and were very loud. He sat on the bed, finishing all of the catch up curriculum Hermione had set for him. A lot of history had happened when he had been asleep. The most shocking was Dumbledore was the wizard who had beaten Grindelwald. And just a bit after Tom's "accident".

Although, he didn't kill him, not that it surprised him. Dumbledore was soft, and time had done nothing to change it. He walked around head in the clouds offering candies to anyone who even remotely paid him attention.

Professor Slughorn was much the same. Older and a bit larger. Still a sucker for famous and influential people. The girls at the school were a different breed of creature completely. They had quite loose morals, not that anyone complained.

His thoughts again returned to Hermione. He wasn't sure what to think about her. Poor mudblood, no friends, too smart for her own good. Oh, but she was eager to please. That was a trait Tom could use, and she was quite brilliant in magic abilities. She was well ahead of 5th year spells.

Tom had heard all about her from Draco Malfoy, the grandson of his old friend. Draco insisted that the girl was a cheat. That was the only way she was top student. Tom knew from their few interactions that Draco was a moron. No drive, no pride, just a spoiled only child of another spoiled only child.

Harry Potter had also thrown his opinion of the girl in, as he was hanging out in their commons with Draco.

"The girl is a menace to the school, she docked point from me three nights in a row. We are in the same bloody house." The boy complained.

Tom ignored him. The boy was just as bad as Draco. He had decided after the tedious conversation that he would possess the mudblood. Muggleborn, he corrected his train of thought.

She could be quite the asset of trained properly. He looked at his watch, he would head out soon to meet her. He had finished the work but wouldn't tell her that, this was the perfect chance to get her even more isolated and closer to being his.

By the time he had reached the library, she was already working. He placed his bag on the table and sat next to her, purposely sliding his chair closer to hers.

"Good morning, Hermione." He said cheerfully.

"Good morning." She said, actually stopping to look over at him. "How was your evening?" She asked as she went back to working.

"Pleasant I suppose, I spent most of it talking with Malfoy and Potter." He said ,noticing her quill tip puncture a small hole in her parchment.

Her reaction wasn't surprising, the boys detested her. She obviously felt the same for them. He watched as she repaired the parchment and continued on like nothing had happened.

She was quiet for a bit and then spoke, "He was the first person to call me a mudblood, Potter I mean."

Tom hid his smirk, "Well Potter is a spoiled brat, I hear his own mother is a muggleborn."

He heard her gasp softly, clearly she had no idea. Winning her favor would be simple. She was too trusting for her own good.

Tom really looked at the girl. Her hair was a tad frizzy, but pleasant to look at. It fit her. She had delicate features, pixie like. She had pale skin, with freckles dusted along her nose, showing the promise of a tan in the future. She had very nice teeth, white, straight, almost perfect.

Yes, Tom has decided that she was quite pretty. That made his plan easier. If he couldn't use her for a follower and loyal servant, he could always tie her to him in other ways.

"Tom? What are you thinking about so hard, did you hear what I asked?" Hermione's voice broke through his thoughts.

"I am sorry, I didn't hear." He admitted.

"I asked if you would be going to Hogsmeade this weekend."

Tom had noticed she was blushing.

"I hadn't thought about it, maybe it would be a nice break from studying before our actual exams." He watched her.

"So you haven't been asked?"

"No, I have avoided most of the students. I don't want to have to explain myself, repeatedly." He told her.

"Oh." She looked down at her hands.

"Are you going?" He asked

"I hadn't planned on it. It's quite boring to go alone." She admitted her blush darkening.

Tom couldn't have planned this out any better. He tried to suppress his smile to an acceptable level.

"Go with me." He said.

Her face beamed, then the smile faltered. She fidgeted, nervously picking at her ink stained fingers.

"I don't know, your friends might not like me hanging out with you. They truly hate me." She confessed.

"I'll handle them, just think about it." He told her, watching the smile return to her face.

They worked the entire morning, Tom acting as if this was all new to him. They ate lunch together again, and toured the inside of the castle. It hadn't changed much, thankfully. Just before classes let out, Tom walked Hermione back to her common room.

He watched as she leaned forward and whispered the password to the portrait of the fat lady. It swung open and much to Tom's surprise, Hermione tip toed and kissed him on the cheek before dashing into the portrait hole and vanishing.

He smiled as he walked back to the Slytherin common room. The fates were smiling on him, the wizard world had so neglected this girl she latched onto him, basically a stranger. This would be easier than he thought.

He waited in the common room for Draco to show, he needed to ask a few questions. Thankfully the wait was short. The blonde strutted into the room with the level of arrogance only a Malfoy could achieve. The boy sat on the couch across from Tom.

"Draco, just who I wanted to see. I wanted to ask you a few questions, somewhat personal questions."

"Like what?" The boy looked worried.

"Is your grandfather alive? Abraxus."

"Yea, he moved out of the manor and to a different estate but he's still alive and well." The boy said.

"He was an old friend of mine, before the accident. I was wondering if I wrote him a letter, could you owl it to him?" Tom was unsure if Dumbledore would be monitoring his post or not, best not to take chances.

"Never thought about that, must be odd, yeah I'll send it."

"Perfect."

Tom stood to go write the letter, he needed to see what had happened with the small circle of his people. The letter didn't take long, and true to his word, Draco sent it that night. Yes, things were looking up for Tom Riddle.